Mills' hot 4th quarter rallies Toreros

USD quarterback Mason Mills wasn’t on the field for the start of the Toreros’ Pioneer Football League game Saturday at Morehead State. Mills was there at the end, however.

Was he ever.

Mills threw four touchdown passes in the fourth quarter — the last one with 17 seconds to play — to lead USD to a thrilling 48-44 victory over the Eagles.

“Scoring 28 points in the fourth quarter and scoring with 17 seconds left felt great,” said Mills, a sophomore from Coronado High who completed 19 of 31 passes for 312 yards and five touchdowns. “It showed resilience in our team and showed our offense’s ability as a whole.”

USD (3-1, 1-0 PFL) trailed 37-20 through three quarters, Morehead State’s lead compliments of three Toreros interceptions — two returned for TDs — that led to 17 points.

In the fourth quarter, Mills teamed with Sam Hoekstra on 17- and 26-yard touchdown passes to draw within 37-34 with 9:15 remaining in the game.

USD took a 41-37 lead with 4:21 to play when Mills connected with John McGough on a gutsy 4-and-2 call for a 34-yard touchdown.

It appeared the rally may be for nothing when Morehead State came back with a 35-yard touchdown run by Desmond Cox to give the Eagles a 44-41 lead with 1:50 remaining.

But Mills and his teammates weren’t done.

A 33-yard kickoff return by USD’s Kenny James coupled with a Morehead State personal foul placed the ball at midfield.

USD moved advanced to the Morehead State 25-yard line, but, faced with a fourth-and-3, Caragher called a timeout to consider whether to go for a game-tying field goal or a possible winning touchdown.

Caragher chose the latter option.

“The field goal was in the back of my mind,” said Caragher. “But I thought we had good momentum, we were moving the ball, Mason had a hot hand. Let’s go for it. And he came through.”

Mills returned to the field, hit Hoekstra for 12 yards and a first down, then threw a 13-yard TD pass to Brandon White for the decisive score.

“We had a fourth-quarter battle against Azusa Pacific (in a season-opening 42-40 victory) and we won, so our offense knew we could win starting the fourth quarter,” said Mills. “We executed and we played like we needed to play.”

All this and Mills didn’t even start because of a sprained shoulder suffered in last week’s lost at UC Davis.

Mills had little practice time during the week because of the injury, so Caragher started junior Bo Stompro against Morehead State. Stompro began by completing his first six passes before throwing an incompletion. He guided USD to scores — Kenny James rushing for a 4-yard touchdown and Mike Levine kicking a 36-yard field goal— on its first two drives as the Toreros built a 10-3 first-quarter lead.

But Morehead State’s Zachary Senvisky intercepted a Stompro pass on the first play of the second quarter and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown. Stompro was intercepted by Dexter Geohagen on USD’s next possession and the Eagles converted it into a field goal and a 13-10 lead.

Stompro, who was 7-for-10 for 69 yards, was replaced by Mills at that point.

“Bo did a great job starting off,” said Mills. “He just got unlucky (on the interceptions).”

Mills received an injection before the game to help deal with pain and was determined to contribute if called upon.

“My shoulder is pretty sore now,” said Mills. “The pain killer wore off at the end of the game, but I told Coach Caragher during the week that I’d be ready if he needed me, so I felt confident that I would be effective enough to play if I went in.”

Mills provided an immediate spark. He completed his first two passes, rushed for a 15-yard gain and capped the drive with a 46-yard touchdown pass to McGough that put the Toreros back on top, 17-13.

Levine’s second field goal of the half helped USD to a 20-16 halftime lead. A 42-yard run by James set up the score and gave the sophomore from Mt. Carmel 123 rushing yards in the first half.

A big third quarter by Morehead State put USD in a 17-point hole. The Eagles scored three touchdowns in the period, including a 59-yard interception return for a touchdown by Andrew Lee off Mills.

Hoekstra led USD with nine receptions for 114 yards, followed by White with eight catches for 78 yards and a TD and McGough with six catches for 162 yards and two scores. James balanced the offense with 25 carries for 140 yards and one TD.

“It goes to show you that we’re never out of the game. The team learned the lesson that if you never give up, you’re always in it and good things can happen. That’s a valuable lesson for our team. It just builds confidence that we can win these games, these close games.

USD returns home for next Saturday afternoon’s PFL game against Davidson.